From now until mid-August, Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Retreat in the Cederberg is hosting two-night Gourmet Food & Wine and Chef speciality weekends which cost substantially less than rack rates.
"It's creative. It keeps us on our toes," enthuses Bushmans Kloof's new head chef Chris Mare about its winter culinary weekends. Next up is "Having Fun with Chocolate", from today until Sunday, billed as a chef speciality weekend with demos and chocolate dishes on menus.
Then follow eight "Gourmet Food and Wine" weekends. Buitenverwachting, Bouchard Finlayson, L'Aviner Vineyards, and Klein Constantia are some of the participating wine estates.
Bushmans Kloof's assistant general manager Michael-John Birch explains how it works: "They take place on a Friday and Saturday night. On Friday night we do wine tasting, Chris showcases his menu and the winemaker talks about wine pairing."
The menus are six-course affairs - with six glasses of wine to go with each dish.
"On Saturday, the winemakers will do something unique," adds Birch, "for example in the past we have had barrel sampling and mixing of cultivars. At our Klein Constantia weekend last winter, we had 10-years of sampling of Vin de Constance."
Klein Constantia's Vin de Constance is the heavenly sweet dessert wine which was adored by Napoleon, who reportedly kept a stash of it on St Helena. There is no extra charge for wine which is served with dinners during the food and wine weekends.
Food weekends cost from R3 200 per person sharing (that is two nights' accommodation, which includes light breakfast, brunch, high tea, dinner and game drives). You pay for drinks but there is no charge for drinks on sundowner game drives.
The specialty weekend rates represent a significant saving to stay at this destination which caters for only 32 guests in the main lodge.
The lodge is set in landscaped grounds with green lawns and four swimming pools. There are 105 known documented cave painting sites on the 7 500ha property which is a South African Natural Heritage area. The paintings are spectacular.
Depending on the programme, you start off the day with a continental breakfast before the morning game drive. Or you may have croissants while you watch the sun rise on a very early dawn patrol. On return from the game drive, there is an uber brunch.
High tea is at 4pm and dinner at 7.30pm. Everything is included in the package and, of course, if you are on a wine weekend, you get your wine as well.
In addition to the foodie weekends in the winter months, Bushmans Kloof hosts archaeology and botanical weekends with the focus on the natural assets of the reserve.
Resident archaeologist Siyakha Mguni will be joined by experts to take guests on safaris. The flora and rock-paintings packages cost the same as the food weekends but do not include wine with meals.
Children under 10 are catered for during school holidays when Family Weekends feature a full programme of child-friendly activities, such as rock-painting excursions, sleepovers in an old shepherd's hut, and star gazing, along with child-friendly food.
There is also a villa on the reserve which accommodates families and small groups. It comes with its own chef, butler, pool, wi-fi and other luxuries. Guests only have to leave to go on game drives, see the animals and rock paintings, or to visit the main lodge for treatments at the spa.
- Call 027 482 8200, or see www.bushmanskloof.co.za.